How to Get Multiple Offers on a House …Every Time!
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FastExpert partner, Sebastian “Seb” Frey has been a REALTOR® since 2003 in the San Francisco Bay Area. With decades of experience, Seb offers brilliant insight into home selling and how to get multiple offers on a house.
There’s been a lot of digital ink spilled about the change in the housing market from a year ago. The first quarter of 2022 was a time in history like no other, with a housing market tilted so far in favor of sellers that a large majority of homes sold with multiple offers and, often, far over the asking price.
The historic and unprecedented rise in mortgage interest rates which began at the beginning of 2022, had a chilling effect on the real estate market.
The meteoric rise in home prices came to a screeching halt, and in many markets across the country, went into retreat. Not only did home prices decline in most parts of the country by varying degrees, the number of sales also plummeted. In the California housing market, specifically the greater San Francisco Bay Area, sales declined 35-45% year-over-year, beginning in the second half of 2022.
Even so, for many home sellers, 2023 still feels a lot like 2022. They are showered with multiple offers and intense bidding wars among buyers, which runs counter to the narrative that the market is in some kind of structural decline.
But how do they do it? It turns out, getting multiple offers and an eye-popping price with incredibly favorable terms for the seller can be had in virtually any kind of real estate market, with the right strategy.
Here are 5 surefire ways to increase the number of bids you receive on your home.
1. Focus on the Presentation
Curb appeal matters more now than ever. But the definition of “curb appeal” has changed, it is perhaps better now thought of as “screen appeal.”
In almost all cases, buyers will first view your home on a screen, before driving by the property. You want to make sure that the way the property presents itself online is top-notch, clearly exhibiting all the best characteristics of the home while omitting anything which may limit appeal.
When seen in person, the home should look like something out of Better Homes and Gardens. When they come in the door, buyers should find a spotless, well-kept, and aesthetically pleasing home.
Prepare the property for sale by cleaning, organizing, repairing, and arranging it to highlight its greatest qualities.
All of this can be considered “staging,” and you should expect to work with a professional staging consultant to make sure the home looks its best. The purpose of staging, whether done by a professional or by the homeowner themselves, is to increase the appeal to the greatest number of likely buyers, so they get in the door quickly and write strong offers straight out of the gate.
2. Spread Your Listing All Over the Web
Make sure the home gets maximum exposure online.
Listing your home on more than one platform will improve the likelihood that you will receive competing offers.
You can advertise your house for sale in a variety of places, from real estate websites and social media to newspaper classifieds, Facebook Marketplace, and even Craigslist. Make sure it shows up in the right people’s inboxes.
The more people who see your home for sale, the higher the likelihood that you will receive competing offers.
>>MORE: When and how do you get paid after selling your house?
3. Effectively Utilize a Coming Soon Strategy
Effectively using a “coming soon” strategy can “prime the pump” to create a funnel of ready, willing, and able buyers eager to get in to see the property, once it’s ready for showings.
Spend a couple of weeks working with the neighborhood, with real estate agents, and with your social networks to get the word out about the property.
Then potential buyers know when the house is coming on the market, when it will be ready for showings, and when you plan to look at offers.
4. Review Offers Right Away
Gone are the days of setting an “offer review date,” which had been a common practice in my market.
Instead, commit to reviewing offers as they are received. Encourage buyers to make offers right away. Don’t give buyers the idea that you’re planning on creating a bidding war.
When you get an offer, you’ll want to spend some time discussing it with the buyer. However, if the offer has the potential to exceed all expectations you have had for price and terms, you may decide to begin negotiating it. Yet there’s nothing wrong with reviewing offers and slow-rolling a response.
>>MORE: Finding local agents is easy with FastExpert
5. Set an Attractive Price for the Home
Having a competitive asking price is really the most critical step in attracting numerous offers on your home.
The most important aspect in determining the number and range of offers you receive on your home is the asking price. You need to do some market research to find out how much other houses like yours are selling for in the neighborhood.
A home that is priced too high may not sell at all, or if it does, it will sell for considerably less than it would have, had it been priced correctly.
Many people fear setting a below-market price for their homes because they feel they won’t be able to negotiate the price up to where they feel it should be. The truth is that great deals on real estate aren’t just found; they are negotiated.
You should expect to negotiate with the various buyers who submit offers to make sure that you are getting the very best price and terms possible for your home.
In fact, I will submit to you that the only way you can truly know you’re getting the best price and terms the market will bear is when you have multiple buyers competing against each other.
When buyers compete, sellers win, every time.
>>Got Questions? Ask a Licensed Real Estate Agent for Advice
Find a Top Real Estate Agent
In the end, having a good real estate agent can help you get the offers you’re hoping for when selling your home. If your agent knows these tips and tricks, you can also get multiple offers above asking.
Browse the FastExpert directory in your area to read reviews and message with agents. Find out if they have other recommendations on getting that top offer.
Learn More About Seb Frey
I hope that this article has shown you how you can virtually assure that you can still get multiple offers on your home, even in a “soft” real estate market. I invite you to learn more about me on my website and explore my YouTube channel for more great tips, techniques, and strategies for making your next move the best one yet.
Seb Frey is a highly recommended FastExpert partner with glowing reviews. Message Seb today!
